Hungary Before the Vote: Is Orbán's System Cracking? (Turning Points) #1

April 3
57 mins

Episode Description

🎙️ Our Hungary election mini-series begins nine days before the April 12 vote.

In this episode, Kristóf Szombati and Erdem Evren discuss what is actually at stake in Hungary's election — beyond the question of whether Viktor Orbán wins or loses. Drawing on Kristóf's recent trip to Budapest and his earlier ethnographic research on how Fidesz built power in rural Hungary, the conversation explores the tense atmosphere before the vote, the rise of Péter Magyar, and the limits of his promise of "regime change."

What happens when the clientelist machinery that helped sustain Fidesz’s rule begins to falter? What does Péter Magyar’s promise of ‘regime change’ actually amount to? And how much of the system Orbán built might survive even if Fidesz loses power?

🎧 Tune into This Authoritarian Life — Hungary Before the Vote: Is Orbán's System Cracking?, with Kristóf Szombati and Erdem Evren. First in a two-part series. After the vote, we'll be joined by political economist Gábor Scheiring to discuss the result and its wider implications for authoritarian politics in Europe.

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